Back in the RVI

Well,, we have another ward under our belts (we've done 1,3,4,5 &6 now!). Not sure what Anna has to do to get on 2...

Andy and Anna spent Thursday night on Ward 1. Anna is fine now, but she couldn't breathe very well on Thursday night and Andy took her down to Hexham A&E. They sent the pair of them to the RVI in an ambulance (Andy was quite thrilled having never been in one before!). She had x-rays etc, but nothing showed up on her lungs this time and we were discharged yesterday afternoon. Anna does like to keep us on our toes, but this was much less dramatic than the last time we were in and she didn't need to an IV drip or the oxygen box this time.

Things are moving on nicely with the charity Garden Party on May 21st. We have had some fab donations for prizes already including a gorgeous jewelry set from Charon's mum and days out at Hexham Racecourse. We've also sold plenty of tickets for the do itself and I have spent this week tracking down bunting, trestle tables, refreshments, gazebos etc. We're all really looking forward to the party and Ella is going to run her own little cake stall.

Janie
x

Happy Easter!

Hi,

We've managed to have a lovely Easter break despite having to cancel our London plans. We've made a couple of day trips instead and had a very good time. The sun shone all weekend.

On Friday we went up to Beadnell on the coast to meet my pretendy cousin Michael and his family. I also saw lots of folks from my teenage days which was lovely. Ella had a brilliant time sand sledging, paddling and playing with Elena and Lexi, Michael's gorgeous daughters. The weather was windy but gloriously sunny (see blurred photo for proof).

Saturday began very well as Ella was sent a huge bouquet of flowers by Katie in London. We were all thrilled.

Easter Sunday was spent at my mum and dad's in Hartlepool. We had a great day.

Janie
x

Stand and Deliver

Anna's health continues to improve and she has now amazed us by learning how to stand up holding on to the sofa for a few minutes at a time. Sylvia the physio will be very impressed methinks.

Ella is finally back. I set out with Anna to go and pick her up this morning, but realised that I was far too tired for safe motorway driving and had to come back home. Oh, the humiliation! Andy picked Ella up after work and I was so thrilled to see her. I know I am biased but she really is lovely to have around. She had a wonderful time in Hartlepool doing lots of Easter stuff with my mum and going to the theatre to see 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears'.

Thanks for all the good wishes. Janie x

Early Release Date

Oh, happy day! Once again Anna has confounded medical opinion and made it home only three days following admission. She still has a nasty cough, but she is almost back to her usual happy self. The RVI is a marvelous institution - I feel a great sense of calm come over me as soon as we get admitted!

We were planning to go to London this weekend to see Katie and little Edward Cruthers, but all that has been postponed. We know how lucky we are to be home so quickly, so won't sulk too much... Ella is in Hartlepool with my mum and dad as Anna needs some peace and quiet for a couple of days more.

Thanks again to D&M for all their help.

Janie
xxx

The little monkey goes from strength to strength... like!

Hi all,

Always one to buck the trend, Anna has amazed us with how well she's done today. She's been off the oxygen since this morning, and off the IV line since this afternoon. She's had a couple of milk feeds and walloped down the best part of a jar of baby food this afternoon; and she's been full of fun doing her best to learn how to crawl and playing with her toys.

She's still a bit wheezy and sleeping more than usual but the doctors are saying that if she continues to improve and looks well enough on the morning round tomorrow, they'll think about discharging her.

Here's hoping.

Thanks to Gill & Ted who are looking after Ella for a few days !
Ax

So far so good

Hi all,

Anna has had a good day today. If anything she seems better than yesterday - respiratory rate and heartbeat have both slowed down and from time to time she's been sitting up and having a play (see pic). She's also had a little mik from time to time, to take the hunger pangs away - she's still getting glucose and fluids from her IV drip.

The doctors seem happy with Anna's progress so fingers crossed she'll shake this thing in a few days; as we know she's a little fighter!

Mum and Dad headed off today... bless them, it wasn't the visit we'd all hoped for but they really helped us out, and at least they got to see Anna more like her usual self today.

More news tomorrow. Thanks for the lovely comments everyone!

Ax

Back in the RVI

I'm afraid Elizabeth's back in the RVI again. It's 99% certain she's got bronchiolitis (a good definition can be found here). I say 99% certain because it'll only be after we get the results of some tests through that we'll know for sure. But the respiration specialist is as certain as he can be.

As generally happens with bronchiolitis, Elizabeth had a cold for a couple of days and then started having real difficulty breathing early this morning. J took her to our GP who advised her to take Elizabeth straight to the RVI. So in we went.

Bronchiolitis is viral rather than bacterial in origin, therefore can't be treated with antibiotics. So it's a case of making her as comfortable as possible and letting her body fight it. That means she's got an oxygen mask or sometimes a 'head box' (basically a transparent box that surrounds her head and into which warmed humidified oxygen is pumped), and a saline/glucose drip so she doesn't have to expend effort eating or drinking. She's having to fight to breathe as her lung capacity is severely reduced.

It's a bit like the calm before the storm; we've been told that Elizabeth will probably get worse for 5 days, plateau and then hopefully start to improve. 'Getting worse' might even mean that she needs to go on a ventilator - ie back to intensive care. Fingers crossed we don't have to face that. It's a real shock how quickly this has all happened.

Elizabeth's on a ward where all the respiratory paediatric cases stay, so she's in good hands. She has a 'cubicle' on the ward which is really a room; and it has a bed so J is able to stay with her. As it's the Easter holidays now, we're looking to send Chloe to her Gran & Grandpa's for a while. Luckily, my mum and dad are staying with us so they have really helped out, looking after Chloe while we've whizzed to and fro today; also being looked after by my mum has made me feel a whole lot better!

I'll keep the blog updated as I can!

Ax